We offer:

• audit License management
• Compliance as a Service
• Assistance with vendor license audits
• Comfortable exit from ULA
• Reduced TCO of Oracle software
• Consulting on software licensing
• Legal support
• Reduced support costs

License audit is a validation of the correctness of licensed software use in accordance with the terms and requirements of license agreements

The main goal of vendor audit is to detect all instances of unlicensed use of Oracle products by the Customer. If there is a shortage of licenses, the vendor has the right to demand payment for the entire period of use and support of the software

CLA's internal license audit will help avoid problems with software manufacturer auditors. You will not only get the details of your licensed assets, but also recommendations on how to optimize your software

The following is carried out in conducting internal audit:

• Examination of IT infrastructure, including core computing resources, information systems, servers and storage systems, virtualization systems and other software relevant to the operation of Oracle software
• Analysis of the current value of shortage or over-abundance of Oracle software licenses
• A Technical Report on internal audit, which includes a list of used licenses, cost estimate in accordance with the official Oracle price list, and analysis of the current situation
• Forming the results of technical measurements, based on which the Technical Report was prepared

The study includes technical measurements of Oracle software use. Based on the data on Oracle software license purchases, an inventory of existing licenses is performed. The reliability of the audit results depends on the validity of the data provided

CLA ensures that technology audit methods are in line with the current Oracle LMS service methods.

Depending on the scope of the SCP, the CLA Corporate Contract will include the relevant guarantees. Compliance Stand-In CLA will provide an experienced Compliance Officer with access to the technical and legal expertise to quickly address the needs for software license and compliance review.
Compliance Stand-In may perform the duties of the Compliance Officer on a permanent or temporary basis

Hiring a full-time compliance expert may be an unnecessary expense for a limited scope of responsibilities during the year. Instead, you may get all benefits of having a Compliance Officer looking after your contracts, assets, and business operations, through a CLA Stand-In Agreement. Audit Response Team If your organization is under an external audit, we will be able to provide your team with the very best experts in governance, IT, and Legal, in order to address the tasks of performing an audit while protecting the interests of your business. CLA experts will work closely with your assigned employees and report about the progress, challenges, and results to the management board.

When building strategic goals for 3-5 years, it is important to understand what reduction in the cost of software ownership is possible. To do this, it is necessary to take into account the current state of the company's infrastructure and its variability: the use of technical support from the software manufacturer, the percentage of software buildup or reduction in the software in use. Monitoring provides a real-time understanding of the volume of software used and the financial costs of owning licenses

Control over the use of software reduces the risk of possible unlicensed use, as well as enables additional planning of the licensing landscape

However, simple technical controls are not enough. Such an analysis must take into account changes to the system itself, the addition and removal of users, and the administration of these processes. After all, all of these factors also affect the final financial result

CLA offers a process for regular and automated processing of technical measurements with guaranteed results. These include:

• Automation of technical measurements on the Customer's servers
• Transfer of technical measurement results in the automatic mode
• Processing of technical measurement results by specialized software
• Providing a report on the results of processing and analysis, with the possibility of plotting the difference from the previous period
• Close supervision by CLA Group licensing specialists

Constant monitoring of the licensed assets in use enables the planning of the licensing landscape depending on the Customer's current needs

ULA stands for Oracle’s Unlimited License Agreement. The Customer acquires the right to unlimited use of the products included in the agreement for a certain period (most often – 3 years). Such an agreement is concluded if intensive growth of the company's infrastructure is strategically planned

Pros:

• Allows to increase your usage volume without having to buy additional licenses all the time
• Convenient and profitable only with an intensively growing infrastructure and a well-thought-out list of included products

Cons:

• Requires a high level of control over installed software and ongoing use of products not included in the ULA
• High cost of technical support – from 18% to 22% of the contract price. In case of ULA renewal, the cost of technical support for Oracle products is summed up
• High probability of vendor audit after certification; risk of detection of products not included in ULA
• Pressure from the vendor to renegotiate the ULA, even if it is not necessary

ULA certification is the process of declaring the products used by the Customer at the end of the ULA agreement

In the absence of proper control over the volume of licenses used, there is a risk of certifying an insufficient or excessive number of products. Each of these cases is fraught with its own negative consequences:

• If the number of licenses declared is insufficient, there is a shortage of licenses, which leads to additional costs for the software
• In the case of excessive license declarations, certification may be denied by third parties and a license audit may be conducted by the vendor

Before deciding to undergo the ULA certification, it is always recommended to assess the additional need for licenses in the next 2-3 years. If there is no such need, it is recommended that the ULA be certified

In this case, be prepared that Oracle will insist on renewing the ULA when it expires, as it is beneficial for the vendor

CLA provides a service to support ULA certification. The work is implemented in several basic stages:

• Conducting an internal software license audit similar to the vendor audit
• Preparation for ULA certification
• Developing the most advantageous strategy for the Customer's management of licensed assets
• Necessary legal support and assistance in negotiations with the vendor

Preparation for certification includes:

• Assistance in data collection using established methods and conducting webinars to improve the quality of the collected data
• Assistance in correctly filling the list of servers on Oracle form
• Landscape design to create a stockpile of licenses for possible future projects
• Bringing the list of servers to a format that minimizes the number of questions from the vendor

We help our customers achieve compliance status and pass ULA certification without additional costs for licenses and technical support

The control of software use in an isolated environment allows to quickly manage the company's infrastructure to create the planned volume of licensed assets. This applies to both increasing this volume and decreasing it, depending on the project's goals

Working in isolated environments gives you the ability to manage licensing volumes in a wide range

The isolation process is complex and consists of many steps. First, experts develop a virtual machine isolation methodology based on the software manufacturer's requirements and the Customer's needs. This process is quite time-consuming, since it is necessary to analyze the infrastructure and assess its capabilities

After that, the process of coordination of the developed methodology with the software manufacturer begins. CLA prepares the documentation for submission to the software manufacturer and supervises the communication of the methodology approval. If necessary, adjustments are made to the developed methodology

When the isolation methodology is approved by the vendor, the process of implementing it on the infrastructure begins. The solution is replicated and virtualization systems are configured under the strict supervision of CLA experts

The final stage of the work is the verification of the replicated solution and making the necessary adjustments based on the verification results.

Most of the costs associated with software use are for technical support and maintenance. The cost of support increases when new transactions are made or Unlimited Agreements are renewed (in the case of ULA renewals, the cost of TS is added up)

During the optimization process, two main software sectors are identified: software that requires technical support and software that does not need TS. From this, an understanding of the licensing landscape and its management in the future is formed

The license management process has an impact on optimizing the cost of the licenses, as well as the cost of the TS, as continued work related to the optimization of license assets helps earn a reduction in payments to the software manufacturer. These savings in annual equivalent can be significant